Romney was never the darling of his party’s right wing, and had to fend off serial challenges from conservative presidential rivals Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. But the former moderate Republican from Massachusetts seems to have won over the conservative establishment now. …

And yet the stories keep popping up, in publications as diverse as the liberal The New York Times, the conservative weekly National Review and the political junkies’ bible, RealClearPolitics.com, speculating about a possible Perry candidacy for president of in 2012.

Almost a year ago, rumors flew around Austin about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s possible presidential ambitions after a pollster made calls to Iowa testing how a generic, conservative, southern governor would play in that state. Yesterday, the rumors got new life after Real Clear Politics reported that they had three separate sources saying that Perry was nosing around the race for POTUS. …